Automobile mud-guard.



W. H. MULLINS.

AUTOMOBILE MUD GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. a, 1911.

Patented Aug. 18, 19m

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE Nulems PE TERS 60., PHUTO LITHQ. WAhHINhIUN. u

W. H. MULLINS.

AUTOMOBILE MUD GUARD.

APPLICATION FILE. MAR.0,1011.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES. fifmuak THE NORRIS PF rERs 50., PHDTG LHHQU WASHINGTON. D. C.

and which at the same time dispenses with screws toattach the rodsdirectly to the top ing to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionparticularly to those of the type employed portion is supported upon oneor more arms arms of the supporting rods. This construcdistinctiveappearance.

3 'unrrn srarns WILLIAM H. MULLINS, 0F SALEM, OHIO.

AUTOMOBILE MUD-GUARD.

To all whom it may concern: Be it'known that I, \VILLIAM H. lvlnnmns,aeitizen of the United States, resident of Salem, in the county ofColumbiana and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Automobile Mud- G-uards; and I do hereby declare the followthereof. v

My inventlon relates to mud guards, and

in motorvehicles. Its object isto provide an improved hin'ud guardconstruction which comprises a'inud guard proper of si ghtly appearanceand convenient strength that can at the same time be readily removedfrom its support upon the vehicle body.

In the automobile inud guards hitherto in general use, the mud guardproper or wall or rods permanently fastened as by metallic straps to thecl'1assis,the top or cover portion of the guard-wall above thewheelbeing bolted or riveted to horizontally extending tion entails thebending or bruising oi the light metal such as aluminum ot' the guardwall, as Well as the rusting of the rivets or bolts, due to cracks inthe paint about their heads. It also practically precludes removal ofthe guard-wall without mutilatin the same, as the rod supports arenecessarily inconveniently accessible and permanently attached even inthe case of the forward mud guard, in so far as removal withoutmutilating the painter enamel of the vehicle and the expenditure ofconsiderable time and trouble isboncerned; and the guard-wall cannot beremoved :t'romthe supporting arms or rods without prying open the rivetheads; or, even if bolts and nuts were used, without mutilating thepaint or enamel of l the guard-wall.

By my inventiomI provide a mud guard which has areadily removableguard-wall the rivet heads on the top thereof, thereby providing a mudguard having an improved This appearance cannot be obtained by use ofremovable Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedAu. 18, 1914,.

Application filed March 9, 1911. Serial No. 613,366. i

guard-Wall, and furthermore, the thin metal thereof would. be subject tobending and mutilation thereby, and rust would set in around the same. ii 1 1 My invention therefore consists, generally stated, in providing incombination with one or more supporting rods attached to the chassis orbody of the motor orlike vehicle, a mud guard-wall proper having theusual vertical or inside portion and a. cover portion above the wheeland rigidwitlrsaid vertical portion and supporting said cover portionupon the bracket rod by means of; a

connecting member permanently attached,

as by welding, to the guard wall, and removably fastened, as byseparately removable screws or bolts, to the supporting rods.

[ thus obtain an unweakened cover uardwall having an improved appearancebythe use of this member, winch I preferably embody in the special formof a plate having a depending portion spacing theguard-wal] above thehorizontally disposed rod arm and fastened to the arm by removablescrews or bolts, and portions in supporting icontact with a lower faceof the cover guard-wall and attached to the guard-wall preferably bydepending; flanges spot-welded orcountersunkenly riveted to thetop o'ftheinside guard-wall and a depending flange on the outside guardwvall,respectively. Thisplate may also serve as a strut or brace for thatportion of the mud guard which is spans.

In the accompanying illustrative draw-v ings, I have: illustrated myinvention as ap plied to the forward mudguard ofan automobile, althoughit will be understood that with slight modification easily appreciatedby persons skilled in the art, my invention is likewise applicable tothe rear wheels of an automobile, or indeed to vehicles of other types.t 3 I In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a tragmental side view of aforward portionof an automobile showing a mud guard of my invention.Fig. 2 is a front view partly in vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 isa top 'view ot the mud guard illustrated insaid" figures. Fig. 4, isaninside perspective view of the same. Figs. 5 and (l are detailtransverse sections on a larger scale, showing different ways ofsecuring the bracket to the guard-wall.

The mud guard l illustrated comprises the inside or vertical wall 2 andthe curved cover wall 3 rigid therewith, the side walls beingconveniently constructed of sheet metal and rigidly attached to eachother as by the interlocking heads 2, 3". The cover wall 3 extends insubstantially horizontal direction transversely of the automobile and issupported upon the bracket rods 5 by means of the connecting member 7permanently secured to the mud guard and removably fastened to thehorizontally extending arm 8 of said rod 3. The rodG likewise supports aconnecting member 9 of like construction removably fastened to thesidewise extending arm 10 thereof by the screws 11, as illustrated inFigs. 3 and l; these connecting members may be of any suitableconstruction and permanently attached in any suitable way to the mudguard; They act as brackets or gusset plates, and in their preferredconstruction form spacing members between the cover 3 and bracket-rod.The supporting rods 5, G are each attached, as by the straps 13, 14: andbolts 15, 16, respectively, to the side sill or member 17 of the vehiclechassis. The chassis or side member 17 thereof is shown supported in ausual manner upon the elliptical spring 18 carried by the axle 19 of thewheels 20. The cover or top guard-wall 3 has an upper face 3 of smoothcontour unbroken by any attaching rivets or screws. The entire mud guardl, however, is supported by the rods {1, 6 and spacing gusset plates 7and 9 beneath the cover wall 3. The gusset plates or struts are eachprovided with portions in supporting contact with a cover plate 3 andwith one or more depending portions in supporting contact with each ofthe bracket rod arms 8, 10. The depending portion 21 of the gusset plate7 is provided as a mid portion carried downwardly by the integraldepending flanges 21 from the end contact portions 22 of the said gussetplate 7 The end contact portions 22 have the depending flanges 23, theinner of said flanges 23 being attached to the inside guard-wall 2, andthe outer of said flanges 23 being attached to the outside dependingflange 26 of the cover wall 3, as illustrated.

The guard-wall is preferably fastened to themember 7 by electricwelding, so as to make the joint entirely invisible, althoughcountersunk rivets or even short projecting rivet heads may be employedif found convenient, especially where the guard-wall is of aluminum orother non-ferrous metal, as the joint is in no case visible through thetop cover wall 3. In the drawings I have illustrated simple sp'otweldsat 24 and rivets at 25 between the end flanges 23 of the gussetmember 7 and the inside guard-wall 2 and inside depending flange 26,respectively. In Fig. 6 l have illustrated the bracket 30 secureddirectly to the cover 31 of the mud guard such as by electric welding.The bracket has the depending mud portion 32, and the contacting portion23, fitting against the under face of the cover and welded thereto. a

i The screws 11 extending through the horizontal arm 8 and nuts 11within the space 21 constitute a simple and easily accessible removablemeans for securely attaching the connecting member and hence the entiremud guard to the supporting rod although it will be understood thatsuitable fastening means such as bolts or clamps, may be employedwithout departing from my invention as defined in the accompanyingclaims. The screws 11 after being freely removable in themselves may bereadily replaced if damaged inany manner without niutilating either themud guard wall or thesupporting bracket rod. In the said claims also,where I, have used the terms horizontal arm or 5 vertical wall and thelike, it will be understood that the parts are so described foridentification merely, and are not to be limited to any exact form ofconstruction What I claim is: I v

1. In an automobile mud guard, the combination with a supporting bracketrod attached to the chassis, of a mudguard having a side wall and ahorizontal cover portion, a gusset plate having an upper supportingportion beneath said cover portion and permanently fastened tosaid sidewall and to the outer edge of said cover portion and having a dependingportion spaced from said cover portion and separately removable screwsholding said gusset plate to said bracket rod rendered accessiblebetween said cover portion and said depending portion by said spacing.

2. In automobile mud guards, the combination with a supporting bracketrod at tached to the chassis, and having a horizontally disposed arm, ofa mud guard comprising an upwardly extending side portion, and a topcover portion rigid therewith and provided with a depending exteriorflange,

and a connecting and strutmember spaced from said cover portion havingend flanges permanently fastened to said depending flange and sideoortion of said wall.

3. In automobile mud guards, the com- .bination. with a supportingbracket rod at tached to the chassis and having an upwardly extendingportion and a horizontally extending arm, of a mud guard comprising anupwardly extending portion at the inner side of said rod, acover portionrigid therewith above the horizontally disposed arm,

an exterior depending flange rigid With said In testimony whereof, I,the said WIL- co-ver portion, and aconnecting member haw LIAM H.MULLINS, have hereunto set my ing depending end flanges attached to saidhand.

flange and said upwardly extendin portion, WVILLIAM H.I MULLINS. 5respectively, and a depending mid portion, Witnesses:

and removable fastening means between the W. P. CARPENTER,

same and said arm. B. E. KYLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 11. o."

